Renewal Communications

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Nora Langolf
Nora Langolf
Fifth Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic First Comment
in Blackbaud Award Management™ & Blackbaud Stewardship Management™ Discussions

If I understand it correctly (big assumption), there is one message template specific to renewals - Renewal Application Request. This is sent if the renewal opportunity requires more information than the import and general application can provide. A change in category from Pending to Requested sends that email. When the qualifications have been met, the status is changed to awarded and the Award Offer Notification email is sent. Is that correct? Anyone have a workaround? I need a template specific to renewals that includes merge fields. As of now, I'm looking at changing the Award Offer Notification, doing all the renewals, then change it to standard language and doing standard (new) awards. Thanks!

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  • Nora Langolf
    Nora Langolf
    Fifth Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic First Comment

    A reply to myself. The Award Offer Notification is not sent out. In fact, I cannot find any message that is sent to a renewed award unless it is a direct message and that doesn't allow merge fields. Not functional at all.

  • Joel Spiess
    Joel Spiess
    Third Anniversary 25 Likes 10 Comments Name Dropper

    Hi, @Nora Langolf! You are correct in that the systemwide Renewal Application Request email template (not editable at the opportunity level) is used to notify the student that they are eligible to renew their scholarship and are required to answer a few questions. This message is automatically generated when you categorize a student as Requested on the Renewal applications grid. (On the Renewal applications grid, a status of Pending means “awaiting administrator action,” and nothing is visible to the student while they have a Pending category.) When you categorize the student as requested, you get to enter the amount and award period specific to that student.

    Think of Renewals like Post-Acceptance. The student does need to accept an offer because they already did that back at the first iteration on the initial apply-to/auto-match. Renewals are like Post-Acceptance because it's taking the recipient straight to the supplemental questions. (In the student's view, whether it's Post-Acceptance or Renewal, what they see is labeled as “Supplemental Questions.”)

    We place any information specific to the renewal in the renewal opportunity description (e.g., minimum GPA, continuance in same academic program, etc.) and/or ask for understanding from the student as a supplemental question. (For example, we often ask a renewal question asking the student to acknowledge the amount that is visible in their view of BAM, as well as other things like consenting to file the FAFSA every year as a condition of renewability, or understanding that if their GPA falls below a certain level, the renewal will be canceled.)

    And then once the student submits their responses to the Renewal supplemental questions, they appear with the category of Submitted on your Renewal applications grid, and then you would review their responses and categorize them as Awarded. Categorizing as Awarded then triggers the Disbursement Awarded email to generate.

    So while you can't customize email notifications to renewal recipients with merge fields, you shouldn't need to. We found it's helpful to constantly remind ourselves that Renewals function like Post-Acceptance.

    I would be happy to connect further on this if it would be helpful: jpspiess@uwm.edu. We have 123 renewal opportunities active at present.

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